THE OLYMPIA LAND BRIEF
Land in the
Central Puget Lowland setting.
Olympia city has 18.2 square miles of land in Thurston County. Its Census reference point is in Central Puget Lowland, within Puget Lowland.
A glacial lowland surrounds Puget Sound with islands, bays, peninsulas and rolling terrain. Moraines, outwash plains and river terraces create a varied setting beneath the region's maritime climate.
Regional context: Puget Lowland ↗ · Classification at the Census reference point
Olympia and Thurston County
Olympia is associated with Thurston County in the Census boundary data. Start with the parcel’s tax bill to match the property to that jurisdiction, then confirm which government handles its land use.
Olympia by land and water
The Census records 1.86 square miles of water within Olympia, or 9.3% of its total area. It is 2.6 percentage points higher than the 6.7% recorded for Thurston County. This is geographic context; waterfront status and usable land must be checked at the parcel.
For scale, Olympia city has 1 times the land area of nearby Tumwater city (17.7 square miles). These areas describe boundaries, not comparable property prices.

